Author Archives: AIDS.gov

By AIDS.govTwo months from today – on October 1, 2013 the online Health Insurance Marketplace will open in every state and the District of Columbia. No matter what state you live in, you’ll be able to use the Marketplace to apply for coverage, compare your options, and enroll. As we get closer to the opening of the Marketplace, growing numbers of people – maybe even you – want to know more about this new way to find health coverage that fits your budget and meets your needs. To help you learn more the Health Insurance Marketplaces, this month and next month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are offering a series of online webinars. Read the descriptions, review the schedules below, and select the free online session that best meets your information needs.

By Ronald Valdiserri, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Infectious Diseases, and Director, Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesDr. Ronald Valdiserri This past Sunday, July 28, was World Hepatitis Day. To mark this global observance in the United States, the White House hosted an event on Friday, July 26, 2013 which brought together more than 200 stakeholders from the domestic and global viral hepatitis communities along with representatives of numerous federal agencies to put an important spotlight on U.S. efforts to confront this global health concern. For those of you who were not able to attend or watch the live stream of the event on the White House’s website, I wanted to share some highlights from this exciting event

By Mindy Nichamin, AIDS.gov New Media CoordinatorWe have already passed the halfway point of 2013, and that’s when we have an extensive evaluation of our new media activities during the first six months of the year. We looked back at our most engaging content and wanted to give our readers a glimpse of what policy and new media updates were most read, watched, shared, and commented so far in 2013. This Storify provides a summary of the content: [View the story “Top 3: Highlights from 2013 So Far” on Storify] Storify is a tool that helps organize small pieces of web content into a curated story that can span across time and across online channels (social media, blogs, websites). Other examples of HIV programs using Storify are YTH , API Wellness , and CDC NCHHSTP (check out their Storify stories recapping their Twitter chats). What are your HIV highlights from the year so far

By The White House Office of the Press Secretary Cross-posted from White House Office of the Press Secretary The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release July 25, 2013 Proclamation — World Hepatitis Day, 2013 WORLD HEPATITIS DAY, 2013 – – – – – – – BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Each year, we mark World Hepatitis Day to bring attention to a disease that afflicts one in twelve people worldwide. Viral hepatitis is a major cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis in the United States, leading to approximately 18,000 American deaths every year. Outcomes can significantly improve with treatment, but because viral hepatitis can be present without symptoms for decades, most infected Americans do not know they have it. Today, we raise awareness about preventing and treating viral hepatitis, and we renew our commitment to combat this disease in all its forms.

By HHS Press Office Cross-posted from HHS NewsroomNews Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 26, 2013 Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343 World Hepatitis Day Statement by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Howard Koh On World Hepatitis Day, we reaffirm our commitment to combating the “silent epidemic” of viral hepatitis. Globally, one in 12 people has chronic hepatitis B or C infection. About 1 million people die each year from chronic viral hepatitis.

By Nils Daulaire, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesWorld Hepatitis Day—observed annually on July 28—is a day to remember the millions around the world, as well as those here in the U.S., who have lost their lives to or are suffering from viral hepatitis. It is also a day to celebrate the progress we have made to prevent millions of new infections so that we can at last foresee a day when viral hepatitis is no longer a major global public health threat. Today, viral hepatitis is clearly one of our major immediate global health challenges. Viral hepatitis—a group of infectious diseases known as hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E—is responsible for more than 1.4 million deaths annually, mostly in lower and middle income countries, and is one of the most common causes of death due to infectious disease in the world

By AIDS.govMarilyn Tavenner On July 15, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took the next step in moving toward implementation of the Health Insurance Marketplaces by finalizing a proposed rule outlining the standards for Navigators, the in-person assisters in Federally-facilitated and State Partnership Marketplaces. The rule identifies training, conflict of interest standards, and standards for serving people with limited English proficiency and people with disabilities. (Read more about the Marketplaces.) Millions of Americans will be eligible for new coverage opportunities through the Marketplaces beginning January 2014. Navigators will be available to provide un-biased assistance to consumers about health insurance, the new Health Insurance Marketplaces, qualified health plans, and public programs including Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as well as assist consumers in enrolling in coverage available through the Health Insurance Marketplaces. “If individuals request assistance and would like in-person assistance, navigators will be available nationwide when the marketplace opens.

By Jackie Nolan, AIDS.gov Managing DirectorAIDS.gov continues to support efforts to ensure that national and local HIV/AIDS organizations are using new media tools to expand the reach of their HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care activities. Today, we are excited to announce that nine organizations working in communities across the U.S. are developing plans to use new media to augment and expand their HIV/AIDS programs with the assistance of a micro-grant. Planning is a key step in program enhancement and we are pleased that nine groups will receive small grants that will enable them to further the use of new media tools in their important HIV/AIDS efforts. The awardees are: ActionAIDS The AIDS Institute AIDS Resource Center Ohio Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center Athletes United for Social Justice Inc (The Grassroot Project) Baylor College of Medicine Teen Health Clinic Central Louisiana AIDS Support Services Positive Connections, Inc. The Women’s Collective (TWC) Check back to the blog in the next few months as we share details about the progress of these organizations.

By Corinna Dan, R.N., M.P.H., Viral Hepatitis Policy Advisor, Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesAs we prepare to observe World Hepatitis Day on July 28, we we’d like to announce a new resource here on the blog: we’ve made available an RSS feed of all the posts about viral hepatitis. You can find it at this address: http://blog.aids.gov/category/policy/viral-hepatitis/feed. “RSS” stands for “Real Simple Syndication.” RSS feeds are a way for websites to distribute their content to people automatically. You can read more about them on this AIDS.gov new media tools page. Using this new RSS feed, you’ll get the latest blog posts from blog.AIDS.gov tagged as “viral hepatitis.” To receive updates, you can add this to RSS feed to your feed reader (e.g., Feedly, Digg, etc.) or your Outlook feed reader.

By AIDS.govHealthcare.gov recently launched a new site and services to answer your questions, with a live chat feature. Read about it here. President Obama spoke earlier today about the Affordable Care Act. Visit Healthcare.gov here.

By Michael Johnson, MD, Global Fund Attaché to the Permanent Mission of the United States of America to the United Nations Office and Other International OrganizationsWhen HIV/AIDS began to ravage the developing world years ago, the problem seemed almost too large to tackle. At that time, the early 1990s, I was living in Haiti studying the interrelationship of AIDS and tuberculosis, and I watched the epidemic unfold on the ground. Few people thought it was possible to provide treatment for the disease in a setting where tools were so limited and resources so scant. Hope, however, began to take hold in the early part of this millennium.

By AIDS.govThe HIV Care Continuum Initiative was launched this week by the White House to focus ongoing implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. If you’d like to learn more, here’s a round up of information that has been shared about the initiative: Executive Order from President Obama Video introducing the HIV Care Continuum Initiative Blog post by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett Blog post by Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of the White House Office of National HIV/AIDS Policy Fact sheet [PDF 320KB] about the HIV Care Continuum Initiative New AIDS.gov page about the HIV Care Continuum You can also read remarks delivered by HHS Secretary Sebelius at the White House event marking the third anniversary of the NHAS at which the new HIV Care Continuum Initiative was announced. How can you work to improve outcomes along the HIV Care Continuum through your work?

By Mary Wakefield PhD, RN, Administrator, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)Dr. Laura Cheever I am pleased to announce that Dr. Laura Cheever has been selected as the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Associate Administrator for the (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau. For the last 10 years, Dr. Cheever has served as the Deputy Associate Administrator of the HIV/AIDS Bureau, responsible for leading the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and HRSA’s programming for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). She has also provided national leadership for HIV/AIDS care and treatment, including the development of federal guidelines for HIV care. Dr.

By Andrew Plumer, MLA, Outreach Librarian, Specialized Information Services, National Library of MedicineWhether using Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or other platforms, each institution using new media has an experience or “story” to share. Today, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) offers AIDS.gov blog readers a chapter in our new media “story”. NLM has always been in the forefront of providing information about HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. In line with NLM’s mission, we at the NLM’s Specialized Information Services Division launched a Twitter handle @NLM_HIVplus50 in January 2013. Our objectives are to provide links to content and encourage the sharing of ideas about the issues of HIV/AIDS among persons aged 50 or older.